Beef and Plum Stew (Inspired by the Hunger Games)

I experimented with the ingredients that I had in an attempt to make a stew that resembled the lamb and plum stew from ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins. The stew in the book used lamb, but I opted to use beef since it’s easier to find. It’s rich, warms your belly, and super easy to make if you’ve got time to let it simmer. I like to serve it with a loaf of French bread, but goes well with mashed potatoes as well.

Step: 1

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in the melted butter until lightly brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Cook bacon in the onion mixture until browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

Step: 2

Heat wine in a separate pot over medium heat until simmering. Add dried plums to wine and cook for about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms, cover pot, and reduce heat to low.

Step: 3

Cook and stir tomatoes and beef into bacon mixture until beef is browned, about 20 minutes. Transfer bacon and beef mixture to the wine mixture. Add mustard powder, sage, cloves, salt, and pepper. Cook stew over medium heat for 2 1/2 hours.

Per Serving: 268 calories; protein 13.1g; carbohydrates 15.7g; fat 13.7g; cholesterol 44.2mg; sodium 185.1mg.

The name of “stew” can process to both a dish and a make dishes method. Stewing involves slowly cooking chunks of meat, vegetables or beans in a tastefull liquid . It’s similar to braising, instead it does have a few notable differences. The raw animal vested is chopped into few of pieces instead of being cooked whole , and the liquid all of it covers the essential in a stew as compared to a braise’s halfway full . When meat or raw fruit are cooked using this method, the resulting dish is called stew.

Stew has a perception for being a rib-sticking eating process that comfortable you up on a freezing , winter day. It’s true ; a bowl of old menu of beef stew does have warming properties , but stew’s cozy factor more than a way beyond preserving you from the chill . It’s all about those soft and chunks of food and vegetables, swimming in a thick, ultra-rich gravy. The more they come together creates the greatest comfort food, no matter the weather.